Fort McMurray — Contractors at Suncor’s Fort Hills operation unable to work since last week will be compensated for missed wages after the company originally planned to pay only the equivalent of two hours per missed shift.

Work at the oilsands facility north of Fort McMurray stopped last Wednesday during the final stages of getting the project’s secondary extraction system online. This involved introducing a solvent into the plant and the company halted construction as a safety precaution.

Workers were told it would be safe to return to the job site after one day, but several days later, thousands of people were still stuck in nearby work camps.

Between 1,800 and 2,000 members of the Christian Labour Association of Canada (CLAC) were affected by the work stoppage and spent the last few days in camps, said Jay Bueckert, CLAC’s Fort McMurray regional director.

While unionized members and some non-union workers were allowed to leave camps and go into town for a few hours, many feared going home would be seen as walking off the job and could end with their firing.

“At that point, we began talking with Suncor and contractors about a plan,” said Bueckert. “How long is this going to take and when could people go home? If they can’t go home, what would the compensation be for being stuck in camp?”

Push back from workers

Many of the workers expected to be compensated for at least eight hours per missed shift. When workers were told they would only receive partial compensation, workers and union officials pushed back. Fort Hills management said in Monday memo that they will pay workers for full days.

“In consideration of this unique situation, directly affected workers will be compensated for their lost wages beyond the initial 24-hour period,” the memo said. “This reflects regular daily wages based on a 10-hour shift.”

Suncor spokesperson Erin Rees said in an email Tuesday the company understood the experience has been “frustrating” for workers, many of whom have started to go home.

Rees could not comment on how many workers were affected or when construction work will restart.

“It was quite tense for those days, especially with some people feeling they were trapped and patience growing thin,” said Bueckert. “My sense is if Suncor had known it would take this long, they would have done things completely different.”

The Fort Hills operation in located 90 km north of Fort McMurray, with Suncor holding a majority 53 per cent stake in the project.

Suncor says Fort Hills is more than 80 per cent operational and produced 6,000 barrels of oil per day during the last quarter. The project is expected to be capable of producing 194,000 barrels per day of oil once it is fully up and running.

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